Tortured School Days
by lilypad
Summary: Anne Shirley has hated Gilbert Blythe with a passion ever since he called her "carrots" over a year ago. However, when Miss Stacey announces that they will be doing Romeo and Juliet as a class study...well, things will change.
1. Chapter 1

~Disclaimer: I own nothing! L.M.Montgomery owns everything! She's one of the most talented writers on earth.....so don't sue me!  
Anyways, this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic so...tell me if I'm doing anything wrong so that I can correct it/fix my mistakes...lol...and any ideas you guys might have about my story...feel free to express them...be it good or bad! dramatic sigh I can take it! lol...anyways...on with the story! Enjoy!~  
  


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Anne Shirley looked across the aisle at a certain boy with dark, curly hair. It had been more than a year now and she still hadn't forgiven him for that fateful day when he had called her-no! It was too painful for her to think about! Even if it had been so long ago. The events were still crystal clear in Anne's mind! He had called her that awful name and brought shame upon her in front of her peers! She would always hate him! Or so she thought at the time...  
  


Gilbert Blythe sneaked a look at the only creature ever to have graced Avonlea school that had actually made Gilbert have to work to keep in front of his class...not including the fact that he wasn't first in his class! She was! His days were still haunted with cruel and cold looks from her...they had been ever since he had called her 'carrots' more than a year ago! He didn't understand what she had gotten so worked up about...but she had and he had done everything imaginable in an attempt to make her forgive him! She had made it quite plain that she didn't want any contact with him after he had apparently hurt her feelings excruciatingly! Of course, he, being a boy, hadn't known, and still didn't, what all of the fuss was about! All of the other girls in school would have swooned to have him tease them! She should've swooned! But...why didn't she?   
  


Charlie Sloane had chosen that moment to throw a small pebble at the back of Gilbert's head, effectively snapping him out of his daydream. Gilbert turned around, rubbing his head, and gave Charlie an evil glare and an extremely malicious smirk.  
  


Anne turned to see Gilbert giving the most misleading smirk to Charlie, huffed, and turned around in her seat to face the front.  
  


Gilbert had heard Anne's "humph" and his head had reflexively snapped to her in time to see her huffily turn back around in her seat.  
  


Miss Stacy chose that moment to announce that they would be placed in a group and would have to reenact a scene from Romeo and Juliet. (A/N: I know! So unimaginative! But that's the only thing I could come up with! lol...don't hate me!) She also announced that the groups were coed and that she would be announcing them in a minute. The scenes would be randomly handed out and the groups would have to act out their own interpretation of the scene...meaning that they could phase the scene in modern times or caveman times...whichever they chose.  
  


Anne held her breath and waited for Miss Stacy to announce the groups. She watched with excited eyes as Miss Stacy picked up her list and began reading the names of group members out.  
  


"Group number one is Josie, David, Charlie, and Ruby. And you will do the..." Here Miss Stacy paused and reached into a basket to draw a slip of paper. "Sword fight scene. You may sit with your groups and start preparing and organizing."  
  


Ruby Gillis looked at Anne with eyes that begged her to help her. Anne stared back in sympathy. Miss Stacy began announcing another group.  
  


"Group number two is Jane, Fred, Gertie, and Tommy. You will do the..." Again Miss Stacy drew a slip of paper out from the basket. "Balcony scene...I think all of you are familiar with that one!" Miss Stacy and many of her pupils laughed.  
  


Now it was Jane's turn to look at Anne imploringly as if begging her to help her out of her nightmare. Anne smiled sadly back.  
  


"Group number three shall consist of Diana," Anne looked at Diana with wide eyes, "Moody, Anne," Anne smiled at Diana, clearly at ease, "and Gilbert." Here, Anne's delicate features twisted into ones of horrified, fury. She looked at the boy in question with the utmost dislike, while Gilbert smiled, almost triumphantly, back at her. "And, your group shall do the...final scene! That shall be a treat! That's the one where...well...I'll let the group act it out for you."  
  


Anne stared at her hands. This could not be happening! This was not happening! How could this have happened? She tried to calm her nerves by taking a few, deep breaths but that possibility was ruled out when she found Gilbert Blythe, the very object of her hatred, sitting right next to her! Anne almost lost control, but restrained herself seeing the pleasant smile on his face. Probably taunting me! Well, we'll se about that! I shall get through this...if it's the last thing I do! Anne's thoughts soon filled with ways to get back at him if he even so much as put one nail out of line!  
  


Diana looked at her bosom friend, her eyes filled with mirth, but also worry. Anne noticed everyone staring at her so she looked up and forced a smile on her face.  
  


"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" She said in a choked voice, as if someone was straining her to speak.  
  


Gilbert laughed at her strangeness and said easily, "Yes, I think that would be best. Since we have such and easy scene," here he paused and chuckled softly, "I think we should decided who will play what!" He clapped his hands together and looked around. "Any takers or nominations for any roles?" He asked.  
  


"I nominate Anne for the role of Juliet!" Diana said defiantly, winking at Moody. This was the perfect time to set them up! They had been so obvious ever since they had laid eyes on each other!  
  


Moody, taking the hint, spoke up. "I second that!" He said, noting Anne's incredulous look.  
  


"I also agree." Gilbert said and turned to face Anne, whose face was still staring unbelievingly straight ahead of her. "Anne?" Gilbert waved a hand in front of her face. "What do you say?"  
  


Anne stood up, after catching his hand in a death grip, and said icily, "Don't wave your hand in front of my face! And..." she said the next part a little hesitantly, "if you all want me to be Juliet then...I guess I have to accept!" She looked around at every group. Jane and Ruby seemed to be getting frustrated with their groups. She couldn't say that she blamed them.

She was snapped back to reality when a voice, that sounded strangely familiar, also said, "I nominate Gilbert to play Romeo." Diana said resolutely, looking at Anne's shocked face.  
  


"Hu-wha-what?" Anne spluttered!  
  


"I second that!" Moody called out.  
  


Gilbert seemed equally taken aback as Anne. Then, upon seeing Anne's anger clearly rising, he quickly said, "I guess I could live with that...if the majority agrees." He stole a glance at Anne and saw that she was looking ahead in horror. Then, because he saw Moody and Diana nodding frantically, he nodded and announced, "Alright! I'll play Romeo! Come on Anne! Shall we practice?"  
  


Anne had to bite her tongue and try very hard not to say what she was intentionally going to say to Gilbert's announcement, and instead forcibly smile at him and say in an obvious strained voice, "Yes, let's."  
  


Diana and Moody noticed their, more like Anne's, discomfort but said nothing and watched mirthfully on as Anne and Gilbert proceeded to practice the final and most romantic scene in, what might be the most famous love story in history. It was not going well!  
  


Hey! Author here....tell me what you think so far! If you don't tell me what you think...how can I make it batter??? lol...seriously though....just review! You know you wanna! lol...*dances around room screaming* I finally got a fanfic out! YAY!!! Anyways...be sure to REVIEW!!!!! Until next time.....later!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey all! If you wanna see the disclaimer.check my previous chapter..anyways..I just wanna say that I TOTALLY appreciate all of the pointers! I wanna especially thank Nell Lime..I took all your points into consideration and..I figured that you're right..so I'll try and improve my story..and I want all of you guys to keep on reviewing! Oh, and before I forget to mention it.Anne is in her last year before Queen's.thanx...now on with the story.  
  
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"Marilla! It's absolutely imperative that you take me out of that institution they call a schoolhouse immediately! Or at least before next weekend!" Anne called out loudly as she walked into Green Gables that afternoon.  
  
Marilla Cuthbert was only mildly surprised at Anne's little outburst. She had heard from Mrs. Lynde this afternoon that the senior class at Avonlea School was studying Romeo and Juliet as part of their Literature unit.  
  
"I heard from the School Governors that they will host a small interpretation night at the White Sands Hall! All of the groups will perform their own scene! Won't that be such a thrill Marilla? Not that I approve of all of this nonsense in school.but it should be interesting to see what the scholars come up with!" Rachel Lynde had said enthusiastically. Marilla had scoffed at the idea, but the more she had thought about it, the more she warmed up to it. Besides, she knew that Anne was absolutely crazy about this type of thing so resistance was futile, seeing as how Matthew was almost sure to take Anne's side!  
  
"What happened Anne?" Marilla folded her apron and placed it down carefully, before making her way into the hallway where Anne was standing, absolutely fuming. "Oh my. Why don't you tell me all about it as we start to get dinner ready and on the table."  
  
"It was horrible Marilla!" Anne said, looking up at her as she strode to keep up. "You'll never believe what they're making us do in class!"  
  
Marilla chuckled to herself at Anne's mortified behavior. "I know a lot more than you think, Anne Shirley!" She said sharply, but not unkindly.  
  
"You'll never in a million years guess what we have to do! It's too difficult even to speak of it without wanting to strangle someone-"  
  
"Anne! Don't say such things!" Marilla interrupted.  
  
"But I will make an honest effort to restrain myself as I tell you the story from the beginning." Anne continued on as though she wasn't interrupted.  
  
Marilla rolled her eyes as she stared down at Anne. That girl will never stop overreacting to things will she? "Anne.I'm sure it's not as bad as all that!"  
  
"Oh, but it IS Marilla!" She replied forcefully until Marilla was forced to reluctantly sigh and nod her head signaling to Anne to continue.  
  
"Well, it all started in the afternoon when Miss Stacey announced that we would be put in groups to act out a scene from Romeo and Juliet."Anne gave a full account of what happened until Gilbert accepted the role of Romeo, managing to wince every time his name was said. Here she suddenly stopped.  
  
"Well, child, don't keep me in suspense!" Marilla said, a hint of laughter in her voice.  
  
"It's just so horrible.I don't know if I can go on Marilla." The girl dramatically sighed.  
  
"Oh, for heaven's sakes! Just go on!" Marilla turned and began stirring a pot as it started to boil.  
  
"Alright.the story must be told." Anne gave another overly played out sigh and continued. "I knew that working with Gilbert," she winced, "would lead to potentially nerve-wracking situations, but I didn't think it would be so exasperating! I think he must have done everything in his power to vex me, and when I told him that if he made another wise crack, I would be forced to jump to VERY extreme measures, Miss Stacey walked up right behind me and told me to stay after class so that she could talk to me.she looked so disappointed! I'll never do anything to make dear Miss Stacey look at me that way ever again! But back to what I was saying.Gilbert actually laughed at my getting caught.I got so frustrated that-that-" Anne stopped and hung her head in shame.  
  
Marilla eyed the thin girl in front of her. "Well.what did you do? I can tell by your countenance that it couldn't have been something good. Just spit it out and I'll see that you get appropriate punishment.if punishment is indeed necessary."  
  
Anne's watery eyes met her own and they immediately softened. Although she strived to look condescending, she failed and Anne smiled slightly before dropping her head down in shame again. "But you'll get so angry Marilla, and-and-and you may just be disappointed and I couldn't take two people being disappointed in me in the same day! I just couldn't!" Anne wailed, as she started all out sobbing.  
  
Marilla became worried now. Sure Anne had come home upset about that Gilbert Blythe more than once, but this time she seemed truly devastated. She was now even more desperate to find out what it was that Anne had done. She slowly but firmly took Anne's chin in her hand and lifted it up so that she was staring right into Anne's stormy green eyes. Her heart tugged at the sight of the broken girl in front of her, but she was very good at hiding it.  
  
"What did you do child?" She asked in a mild voice.  
  
"I-I-I-" Anne stuttered.  
  
"Well?" Marilla looked at her expectantly.  
  
"I-ummm-I-" Anne opened her eyes very wide and Marilla looked carefully back.  
  
"Anne." She said warningly.  
  
"Alright." She sighed and began softly whimpering.  
  
"Tell me now!" Marilla exclaimed, tired of this game.  
  
"I suppose it would be for the best.but you have to promise to let me finish my explanation before you get mad." Anne pleaded.  
  
"I promise Anne!" Marilla said breathlessly.  
  
"Okay. Well, when Gilbert started laughing at me.I just snapped and I-I-I-"  
  
"Anne! Just finish the story!"  
  
"I cracked my second slate over his head!" Anne cried before burying her head in her arms and sniffing softly to herself.  
  
Marilla stood speechless for a minute, until all of the information was fully processed. Then, she burst out laughing and put her arm about Anne's shoulders.  
  
"Oh, my dear girl! Is that all? I was afraid you'd gone and killed someone by the tone of your voice!" Anne looked up at Marilla in shock.  
  
"You mean.you're not mad?" Anne asked carefully.  
  
"No.well.yes, but only because we have to pay for another slate.but I'm just relieved that you're alright.it sounded bad, the way you over-dramatized it!" Marilla breathed in relief.  
  
Anne was still stunned by this unexpected result but smiled widely all the same. She threw her arms around Marilla and quietly whispered, "Thank you."  
  
Marilla looked down at this girl and smiled slightly. She tightened her hold around Anne and led her to her room in the East Gable.  
  
"But about your request earlier.I'm most definitely sending you back to school!" Marilla said seriously.  
  
Anne looked up at Marilla, a mildly angry expression on her face, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had come. "I suppose.I could live with that as long as you're not mad Marilla! I couldn't live with myself if I knew you were mad at me!"  
  
Marilla smiled from the doorway. "Just get yourself tidied up for dinner and don't worry about that." With that, Anne was left alone in her room to ponder the day's events. She supposed she could get along with Gilbert Blythe well enough tomorrow.how wrong she was!  
  
Hey all! Me again..just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry if things didn't really pick up in this chapter.they will get more interesting the next chapter.which I hope to have out soon! I really need a beta reader though so if you're interested..e- mail me at lilypad4@hotmail.com or say it in a review..the first person who responds..and if I like them.will get the spot! lol..just some motivation to review! DO IT!!!!!!! 


	3. Chapter 3

Hey.sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out.but I've been REALLY busy..lol.anyways.enjoy..and things should pick up soon..read on and enjoy..(  
  
"Why do you have to be so infuriating?"  
  
The words pierced through Gilbert like a knife. He hadn't meant to get chalk dust all over Anne's dress but it had happened, and she was mad; very mad. He took a few steps towards her, but she backed away.  
  
"No, stay back! You might just knock me over the head with something hard!" Anne hissed.  
  
"But Anne, I just want to help you clean your dress up. Besides, there are no hard objects around." Gilbert smiled kindly, but Anne mistook it for a smirk.  
  
"You'd find something to vex me with! Just stay back and I'll clean it up myself!" Anne said venomously, and with that she marched up to the teacher's desk.  
  
Gilbert watched her walk away with troubled eyes. Then, he turned back to Moody and said, "I honestly didn't mean to knock the chalk dust onto her.that time!"  
  
Moody peered into his friend's eyes. He realized something then! Gilbert was in love with Anne! How could it have happened though? They seemed to hate each other! Well, at least, Anne hated him. But, Gilbert had also appeared to hate Anne.no! Hadn't he been the one who had tried to apologize to her profusely? Hadn't he been the one who had wanted to mend things? Hadn't it been Anne who had snubbed him because of her fierce pride? Yes! They were obviously in love!  
  
Moody looked down at his feet, trying to hide his amusement. Diana nudged him in the side.  
  
"What's so funny?" She asked.  
  
"I just realized that those two are in love!" Moody said triumphantly.  
  
"You just figured that out? They've been so obvious about it! Or should I say 'oblivious'! Anne wouldn't admit that she liked Gilbert even if her life depended on it!" Diana said sadly.  
  
"We've got to find another way to bring them together! Our plan seemed to have backfired. I mean, they're madder than ever.at least, Anne is!" Moody said, clearly discouraged.  
  
"Don't be so sure." Diana said mysteriously, as she dreamily watched a scene happening about two feet in front of her. Anne and Gilbert were at it again.  
  
"What are you talking about? I was here first!" Gilbert was heard shouting.  
  
"I was CLEARLY here first! Besides, it's my seat! Go find somewhere else to sit!" Anne yelled back.  
  
"How typical of a girl!" Gilbert hissed. At this, all of the girls nearby stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him.  
  
"Do tell us Gil, what is so typical of us?" Jane asked sarcastically.  
  
"W-w-well, I mean, typical of ANNE.not any other girl." Gilbert stuttered.  
  
"Well then, what's so typical of me?" Anne asked sweetly.  
  
Gilbert gave her a look. "It's typical of you to have to have things your way!"  
  
"It is not! I just stand up for what I believe! And what I believe right now is that, should you not move, I will be forced to rip-"  
  
"Miss Shirley! I do not wish to know what you will rip but I should ask you both, Anne and Gilbert, to stay after school so that I may have a word with the two of you!" Miss Stacey intervened sternly.  
  
Anne and Gilbert walked back to their table slowly, hissing insults as they went.  
  
"You're too stubborn for your own good Anne!" Gilbert hissed under his breath.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well, you're too annoying for your own good!" Anne hissed back.  
  
"Both of you, stop! We need to work on our scene! We don't want to let Miss Stacey down, do we?" Diana interrupted.  
  
Anne and Gilbert nodded mutely and went back to rehearsing.  
  
"-Thus, with a kiss, I die!" Gilbert ended and began leaning in towards Anne.  
  
Anne jumped up and said, "I think we should save it for the night of the performance!"  
  
"But we need to practice!" Gilbert whined.  
  
"I'll just ask Miss Stacey if it is absolutely imperative that we end with a-a-a kiss." Anne shuddered, as she nimbly hopped up to the front of the room to talk to Miss Stacey.  
  
"Yes Anne, your group must end with a kiss! It sets the whole mood of the play! Besides, it will give you a chance to get closer to the Blythe boy. He's quite a charmer and he seems absolutely smitten with you! Well, that's not something I should be discussing in school. Run along, back to your group, Anne." Miss Stacey made a motion with her hand.  
  
"But do we have to practice the kiss in class? Can't we save it for the show night?" Anne pleaded. It was clear that she had accepted her fate, but the disgust on her face betrayed her cool exterior.  
  
"Anne, you may do as you wish." Miss Stacey said wearily.  
  
"Thank you, dear Miss Stacey!" Anne slumped back to her group.  
  
Everyone crowded around her.  
  
"Well?" Gilbert said expectantly.  
  
"She said that the kiss is a must on show night, but we may do as we wish upon practicing it." Anne said triumphantly.  
  
"Well, I think we should practice it! Right now, in fact!" Gilbert said grandly.  
  
Anne shrank back. "No! There is absolutely no way that I will let your-your-your.lips touch mine before they have to! I'm not kissing you Gilbert Blythe unless it's a matter of life or death, or until show night! And that's final!" Anne announced stubbornly.  
  
"See? I told you that you were too stubborn for your own good! You're putting your own personal comfort before your group's grade in school! How selfish of you Anne!" Gilbert knew that would hit close to home for Anne. She considered herself a generous person and usually put others' needs before her own.  
  
Anne hesitated. She knew that she was being a little selfish, but there was absolutely no chance that she would kiss Gilbert Blythe, on the lips no less, before she absolutely had to!  
  
"No! And that's final! I refuse to kiss you Gilbert Blythe! Diana, you may take the role of Juliet if you please, because I am NOT coming anywhere near those 'lips' of his!" Anne announced, and ran out of the schoolhouse and to the forest behind the school.  
  
Miss Stacey, watching the whole scenario, abruptly stood up as she saw Anne head for the door. She called to one of the senior students to take charge of the class for a few minutes and hurried out after Anne.  
  
Once outside, she proceeded towards the forest, only to find Anne crumpled in a heap at the bottom of a oak tree. She advanced on the girl with slow, quiet steps.  
  
Anne didn't notice someone outside with her until that someone sat down beside her. She looked up, startled.  
  
"Oh Miss Stacey! I'm awfully sorry for running out like that, but I couldn't take it! I couldn't believe that I had to KISS Gilbert.since I hate him so!" Anne looked up at Miss Stacey with red, puffy eyes which showed that she had started to cry.  
  
"There, there child! You don't have to kiss anyone, but think of how your group feels now? Think about how disappointed they'll be? After all, you were their Juliet. Now, they'll have to find a substitute, and it is two days before the performance! I'm sure Diana will be able to manage, but she won't have the experience you have Anne. And what are you going to do for your literature mark? You need to be in that play in order to have a complete report!" Miss Stacey put an arm around Anne's shoulders, and Anne snuggled into her.  
  
"Oh Miss Stacey, I couldn't have done it! I would have backed out of it at the last moment! I wouldn't have gone through with it! I would have disappointed my group at the last moment! I would have made up an excuse to get out of it and I'd have put them on the spot! It's better this way!" Anne sniffled.  
  
"If that's how you feel, Anne. Maybe you should take a break. You know, sleep and then think about it. Don't let your group down so easily. Think about it and tell me your decision tomorrow. School hours are almost done, so we'll pack up for the day, and you can have the rest of the day to yourself, with no Gilbert or anyone. But, promise me you'll think it over, Anne!" Miss Stacey stood up and helped Anne up.  
  
Anne smiled gratefully, and nodded. "I promise." She said solemnly. Then, the two of them went inside to find Diana looking around desperately.  
  
"Anne! Oh Anne! You mustn't make me do this Anne! I can't play Juliet! I-I-I'll just die! Please don't make me do it Anne!" Diana ran towards her, as Miss Stacey slipped back to the front of the room.  
  
"Diana, I'll think it over tonight, but I must say, I don't think I shall be able to do it! I'm sorry Diana. Maybe Moody could play Juliet!" Anne suggested and both girls broke out laughing.  
  
"Anne, you're so silly!" Diana giggled.  
  
Anne frowned at her bosom friend's lack of vocabulary, but let it slide. Diana looked at Anne pleadingly again.  
  
"Diana, I shall think it over! That is all I will say!" Anne stated with finality.  
  
"Hey, look who decided to join us again!" A biting voice said from behind them.  
  
The two turned and say Gilbert standing there. Anne bit her lip and turned away to go back to her seat.  
  
"Okay class. That's all the time we have today. Be prepared tomorrow to practice some more. And then, it will be show night. That's it. Oh, Anne and Gilbert, I still want to see you after class. Class dismissed." Miss Stacey turned back to her desk.  
  
Anne looked at Diana and mouthed, "Wait for me." Then, she and Gilbert proceeded to see Miss Stacey. Their visit would take a long time!  
  
Hey..me again with my usual note! I want to say thanx to all who reviewed and keep up the great work..sooo...keep reviewing, y'all are awesome!!!!!!!!( 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all...sorry I haven't updated for a while..i've been really busy.my school's basketball season picked up..and I was on the team.and we had REALLY long practices..*mutters* stupid coaches..they made us stay at school on a FRIDAY night till 5!!!!!!!! My school gets OUT at 2:30!!!!!!! That's 2 and a HALF hours of basketball!!!!!! We had NO breaks or anything...and that's been going on for like 2 months..lol.anyways.I had like NO time to type..but here it is! Chapter 4!!!! Enjoy all!!!!!  
  
Miss Stacey looked at the two of them for a long time. Then, "You two simply MUST learn to get along! Chances are, you'll end up working on a lot of projects together! Not to mention that you're both going to Queen's next year. You're going to run into each other a lot and you must learn to act decently when you're around each other."  
  
Anne and Gilbert each made a tiny sound of protest but Miss Stacey went on.  
  
"Now, I've been observing the two of you for quite some time now, and I've decided that drastic measures must be taken. That's why I'm considering it almost imperative that you two be in this play together. Aside from that, you will have to spend extra time together outside of school-"  
  
Anne gasped in horror. "Miss Stacey! That's cruel and unusual punishment! You cannot expect me to spend a second more than I have to with this-this-this-"  
  
"Incredibly attractive hunk?" Gilbert supplied, causing Anne to give him such a look of dislike that Miss Stacey sighed in exasperation  
  
"Stop! I'm going to need your cooperation on this! This name-calling and mutual dislike for each other cannot go on. I'm not sure that I can stand it!" Miss Stacey intervened and looked pleadingly at the two of them.  
  
Anne sighed and muttered quietly, "I'll try my hardest Miss Stacey."  
  
Gilbert's answer was along those lines, so Anne turned around and glared viciously at him.  
  
"Anne.please! Now, every Saturday, the two of you shall meet to help one some of our.intellectually challenged, yes, that's it, students with their schoolwork. Needless to say, you'll need to work together to teach the small class. There will be about five to ten students each Saturday. You will meet outside of the schoolhouse, and you may use supplies from our storage closet. Keep the class outside however; I do not want any broken windows, or desks on my hands Monday morning." Miss Stacey smiled, as did Anne and Gilbert.  
  
"Alright Miss Stacey. If it will help you, of course I'll do it." Anne said with a sideways smirk at Gilbert. "I'd never let you down!"  
  
"Thank you Anne. Gilbert?" Miss Stacey turned to him.  
  
"I'll do it. But only because it's absolutely necessary." He said slowly.  
  
Anne turned to him with a look of disgust on her face. "Is that the only reason you're doing it? Because it's 'absolutely necessary'? If you don't want to do it., then DON'T! I can handle the class just fine on my own! You don't have to bring your sorry b-"  
  
"Why are you getting so worked up for? I DID say I'd do it, didn't I? Mind you, I could have found better ways to spend my Saturdays! But, since we HAVE to do this to spend more time together, I guess I have to." Gilbert interrupted.  
  
Anne stood fuming nearby. How DARE he imply that she was some needy girl who couldn't handle a class without his help? Is that what he thought of her? Well, she'd show him! Maybe SHE wouldn't show up. As soon as that thought had crossed her mind, she felt ashamed. She's promised Miss Stacey she'd do it, and she never backed out of a promise. She'd have to stick it through. So, instead of continuing the verbal sparring match, she said frostily, "I think Miss Stacey wasn't through talking." She turned jerkily away from him and faced her teacher.  
  
"Thank you Anne. That was quite an interesting display of emotions. However, it was one that I don't want duplicated. This is exactly why I want the two of you to spend more time with each other!" Miss Stacey prompted.  
  
"Why? So we'll spend our Saturdays screaming insults at each other?" Anne muttered and Gilbert began chuckling.  
  
"Anne? Are you muttering?" Miss Stacey prodded.  
  
"No Miss Stacey. You were saying?" Anne diverted attention from herself.  
  
"Oh yes. Aside from spending Saturdays apart, you two will get together every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to study for your examination for Queen's. I daresay you two will do alright without me there to supervise. I suggest you pick a location at which to meet. Perhaps one of your houses? I'll leave that up to you to decide, but this is also imperative that it happens. I refuse to let you spend your last year at Avonlea School arguing and spitting out insults at each other. This should be one of the happiest years of your lives! Don't waste it you two. I'll leave you two alone for a moment to decide whose house to meet at tonight after school." Miss Stacey made to stand up but Anne spoke up in a horrified tone.  
  
"You mean all of this starts THIS week? Miss Stacey! Please don't make me spend more time than absolutely necessary with this big oaf!" Anne pleaded.  
  
"Hey!" Gilbert said indignantly.  
  
"Anne! I don't want to hear you say any more things like that again! I want you to apologize to Gilbert right now, and then I want you two to discuss this rationally and calmly." Miss Stacey said, as she started walking towards that door.  
  
Anne turned towards Gilbert, and, after much hesitation, said in a tight voice, "I'm sorry for calling you an oaf, Gilbert"  
  
"Very good. Now begin your discussion." Miss Stacey closed the door behind her.  
  
"Even though you most definitely deserved it!" Anne hissed at Gilbert as soon as they were alone.  
  
"I did not! What did I do?" Gilbert asked innocently, which infuriated Anne even more.  
  
"Be quiet! Just don't speak! I can't believe this is happening! I can't believe that I have to spend my nights with YOU, of all people! I would have been okay with spending my nights with ANYONE else. Even Charlie Sloane!" Anne said bitingly.  
  
Gilbert paled slightly. She actually hated him so much?! Well, she was no picnic either! And he was going to let her know that! Just as soon as he got enough courage.  
  
Anne went on, oblivious to Gilbert's musings. "You probably put her up to it! You knew this was the only was to get under my skin; and you went for it! I can't believe it! This is the worst form of torture known to man! What did I ever do to deserve it?"  
  
Gilbert had had enough. He decided to interrupt her there before she said something she'd regret; or something HE'D regret. "Anne, I realize I'm not your favourite person in the world-"  
  
"That's the biggest understatement of the decade!" Anne muttered.  
  
"As I was saying," Gilbert went on pointedly, "I see no use for all of this fighting! I say, we should just pick a place to meet, and be done with it. Where do you want to meet tonight?"  
  
Anne surveyed his apparently calm attire. Why was he so calm while she felt so frazzled? She could change that.  
  
"I-I-I.how can you be so calm? I know you hate this situation as much as I do! Why can you keep your cool so much better than I can?" She all but yelled.  
  
"Maybe I don't hate this situation." he said softly; so softly that she barely heard him.  
  
"What?' She took a step backwards.  
  
"Huh?" He hadn't realized that he'd said it out loud. Drat it! When will he cease to make a fool out of himself in front of her?  
  
"What did you just say? I'm not sure I heard you correctly. Did you just say that you didn't hate this situation?" Anne asked shakily, as if it were thoroughly impossible for anyone not to hate this situation.  
  
Gilbert paled visibly. Oh no! She'd heard him. He gulped audibly, and started stammering. "I-uh-umm-I-how-n-bu-" until he realized that Anne was staring at him with wide eyes.  
  
"You beast! How dare you! You're mocking my sorrow! You're- you're-you're enjoying this?! I can't believe this! How could you?" Anne screamed, tears building up in her big, stormy green eyes.  
  
"No! Anne." Gilbert took a step towards her.  
  
"Stay back! You-you-you've done enough damage! I can't believe this! Why would Miss Stacey do this? She knows how I feel about you! Why? Why me? What have I ever done wrong?!" Anne sniffled.  
  
"Wait a minute now! Didn't you say just a moment ago that you thought it was MY fault?" Gilbert yelled.  
  
"I did! You're the only one heartless enough to do something like this. Dear Miss Stacey probably thought she acted for the best. If it would have been you who did it, you'd have done it out of pure spite!" Anne shrieked.  
  
Something in her words struck a cord deep inside Gilbert. He grew angry at what she thought of him. He drew himself up to his full height and slowly advanced towards her.  
  
Anne shrunk back. For the first time in her life, she felt afraid of Gilbert Blythe. She didn't know quite what he was capable of, and she didn't want to find out. She began backing up, trying to get away from him. She was soon pressed right against a wall. Although Gilbert seemed to have stopped advancing on her, she was still slightly scared. Although he still stood some ten meters away from her, she still felt slightly shaky. Then, Gilbert spoke.  
  
"So, where should we meet?" He asked in a tired voice.  
  
Anne was surprised to suddenly see him shrink a few inches. "I think we shouldn't meet, but if we HAVE to, I'd say-"  
  
She was cut off by Miss Stacey entering.  
  
As soon as she had heard the door open, Anne had composed herself and she now stood proud, and tall facing Gilbert.  
  
"Well? Have you decided yet?" Miss Stacey asked eagerly.  
  
"No. We were just about to." Gilbert supplied.  
  
"Oh. I see. Carry on. I just wanted to see if you were done. I'll just sit at my desk. Don't mind me." Miss Stacey looked mildly surprised. What could those two have done in the ten minutes they were in here?  
  
"We'll meet at my house at around six. Is that okay Anne?" Gilbert asked in a curt voice.  
  
"Well-" Anne began in a matter-of-fact voice, but a warning look from Miss Stacey silenced her and she nodded mutely.  
  
Miss Stacey clapped her hands together. "Well then, it's settled. Off you two go. I suggest you come up with a plan of where you're going to meet each night. Perhaps that's what you should work on tonight. That's just my opinion. Now, we'll discuss the rest of what you shall do together tomorrow. I have a student coming in for some extra help. Off with you." And she dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "Oh, and Anne? Do think about what we talked about earlier! It will make your group ever so grateful."  
  
Anne nodded and smiled warmly at her teacher as she and Gilbert walked outside. Anne looked around and saw Diana looking bored on the fence near the school.  
  
Diana looked up and saw Anne stalking towards her. She stood up quickly and said, "What in heaven's name happened in there? What took so long? Miss Stacey and I heard loud noises coming from in there!" Diana seemed eager.  
  
Anne sighed wearily. "I'll tell you all about it on the way home." And with that, the two of the headed for Green Gables.  
  
Hey..me again..i just wanna say sorry for the drama in this chapter...i needed to get Gilbert madder at Anne for my plot.lol.you'll see in future chapters.speaking of future chapters...REVIEW...cuz if not.I might just stop writing this story.(cough) not (cough) lol..i love writing this..so I want all of you to review so that I can continue.lol.REVIEW..YOU KNOW YOU WANNA!!!!!!!! lol. 


	5. Chapter 5

Heyyyyyyy..long time, no update! lol...ummm...i wanna thank all you guys for reviewing..and I noticed that I don't put the disclaimer in all the time.(cough) never (cough).I put it in my first chapter.but if you think all of these characters belong to me, you're on something STRONG! lol.jks..so..just so you know.Anne and her friends don't belong to me! They belong to a genius of a person named Lucy Maud Montgomery. Buuuuttttt..whatever you don't recognize from the books, well, that's probably mine..(unless you didn't read the books thoroughly enough! jks) Anyways, without further ado, (not that any of you actually read this), here's chapter FIVE of my story...  
  
"Wait a minute! You were actually SCARED of him?' asked a bewildered Diana after Anne had told her the events of the afternoon. \ "Not exactly." Anne lingered.  
  
"Anne! Don't fib! You were scared of him, weren't you?" Diana laughed.  
  
"Fine. Just a little though." Anne asserted.  
  
Diana burst out laughing and fell off the bench they were sitting on. The two girls had just gotten home from school and were currently sitting on the Green Gables front porch and talking about what had happened to Anne.  
  
"Diana! I thought you would sympathize with me!" Anne said reproachfully.  
  
"I'm terribly worry Anne, but-" and she started giggling again.  
  
Anne huffed and turned away from Diana in mock sorrow.  
  
Diana composed herself and the chat turned to performance night, which was two days away.  
  
"Anne! You MUST be Juliet! I don't think either Moody or I could substitute for you! Please Anne?" Diana pleaded.  
  
Anne sighed dramatically. "Diana, I said I would think it over. I'm still pondering whether or not I'm still scared of him! You don't know how tall and buff he can appear, Diana" Anne said. "I mean, not that I noticed that or anything."  
  
Diana chuckled. Her best friend was really very blind! She couldn't see love when it was parading in front of her wearing nothing but a silk sarong! She took a deep breath and tried to tell Anne, yet again, that it wouldn't be so bad, and that Gilbert wouldn't hurt her for all the gold in the world.  
  
"Diana! You don't know him as I do! He's selfish, pig- headed, mean, a bully, and extremely unimaginative. Among other things!" Anne sniffed.  
  
"Anne, what proof do you have to back up these accusations?" Diana prompted, amused.  
  
Anne stuttered. "Well, you see-I-y-see here-he-" and then she sighed one of the over-traumatic sighs. "Fine! I'll admit that my information came from a slightly biased source-"  
  
Diana snorted and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like "You!" before apologizing.  
  
"As I was saying, it may have come from a SLIGHTLY biased source, but it is indeed accurate!" Anne finished.  
  
"Anne! Would you listen to yourself? It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, rather than me!" Diana said, exasperated.  
  
The truth was, Anne WAS trying to convince herself. After this afternoon, after she had seen the hurt in Gilbert's eyes, her perspective had changed moderately. Maybe he DID have feeling after all. No! That was crazy talk! Gilbert? Gilbert Blythe? Having feelings? After he had hurt hers' so horribly? She didn't think so!  
  
Diana watched as Anne argued with herself back and forth. She seemed to be fighting with two different views on the same topic. Now, what could that topic possible be? Maybe it was Gilbert! Diana smiled to herself, thinking that Anne would definitely play Juliet in their play.  
  
Suddenly, a voice called out to the two girls. "Anne! Diana! Come inside and help me to set the table." Marilla yelled from the kitchen.  
  
"Coming Marilla!" Anne hollered back.  
  
The two of them made their way inside.  
  
*~*Later that night*~*)  
  
"Marilla! Must I go to the Blythe house tonight? Couldn't you just call and say that I've fallen ill?" Anne whined.  
  
"No, child! I can't, and for the last time, go and start preparing to leave." Marilla said crossly. It was already 5:30 and Anne hadn't even started putting everything she needed together.  
  
"Yes Marilla." Anne called over her shoulder as she obediently walked up the stairs and to her room in the East Gable.  
  
Upon arrival, she said hello to the Snow Queen, the big tree outside of her window, and then flung herself on her bed and pounded the pillows with her fists.  
  
She took some of her contained anger out on the pillows, and when she looked up at the clock, it read 5:40.  
  
"Oh my! I'm late! I've got to get dressed, and wash up, and get everything together." Anne rushed about the room, and finally ended up in the bathroom across the hall to wash her face.  
  
She looked in the mirror, and began criticizing herself.  
  
"Let's see. There's plenty of room for improvement. I'll start with my hair. It's an absolutely hideous shade of red, and I definitely don't like the way it frizzes out after every time it gets wet!" She was muttering to herself as she stared in the mirror.  
  
In actual truth, Anne's hair was a gorgeous shade of red that was very deep and had a lot of dimension. And the fact that it curled at the ends, which drove Anne crazy because she wished to have beautiful, pin straight hair, made her hair go wonderfully with her bone structure.  
  
"Now, what about my skin. I'm deathly pale, but my freckles make my skin look orange! It's looks hideous!" Anne wailed.  
  
Her complexion, which she described as hideous, was actually very fair. She had milky white skin, and her freckles brightened her face up. She didn't need to wear any type of cosmetics, as she had begged Marilla to do, because that would weigh her down.  
  
"At least my nose looks good. I'd say it was my best feature. But.I've seen ladies with even prettier noses than me!" Anne said sadly to her reflection.  
  
She slowly walked out of the bathroom, feeling sorry for herself because she wasn't pretty enough. Then she stopped. Pretty enough for what? Or who? Who did she want to be pretty for? Certainly not Gilbert! Satisfied with herself, she hurried into her room to pick a dress to wear tonight.  
  
Anne finally decided on a dark blue one that Marilla had made her last year, and put it on. She was slightly dismayed to find that it was a little short in the sleeves but thought nothing of it as she rolled them up to her elbows.  
  
As she descended the stairs, Marilla curtly said, "Child, you'd better be on wheels tonight or else you're going to be late, and what kind of impression would that be on the Blythes?"  
  
Anne was just about to say, "I don't care what the Blythes think of me!" when Marilla pushed her out the door.  
  
Anne grumbled to herself as she walked the unfamiliar path to the Blythe home. She hoped that Gilbert remembered that they were supposed to get together tonight. She didn't want to show up and find that Gilbert was out with his friends. That would make her look idiotic. She didn't want that, even if it was only Gilbert's family that would see her.  
  
She took a deep breath as his house came into view. She was suddenly very nervous, but soon became angry with herself. What was wrong with her? She wasn't nervous, not now, not ever! She sighed deeply and knocked on the door.  
  
*~*Gilbert's house*~*  
  
Gilbert was nervous.  
  
No, scratch that! He was terrified.  
  
Anne Shirley was coming to his house tonight, and he only had two hours until she was destined to arrive. In those two hours, he had to heat water, wash himself, pick out what to wear, tidy the house up a little bit, make some snacks for himself and Anne, get all of his materials together, and collect his thoughts.  
  
That was easier said than done!  
  
First, Gilbert heated some water to take a nice, and refreshing bath in hopes that it would clear his head.  
  
What had happened back at the schoolhouse? He had just lost it when she had said that he was spiteful. He'd wanted so bad to make friends with her, and he'd done everything possible but she had shot him down every single time! What more could he do without seeming desperate?  
  
He took a deep breath and shampooed his hair. She would be here in about one hour and 45 minutes! He had to hurry.  
  
His bath took another fifteen minutes, and then he'd only gotten out because the water was getting very cold, and then it took him another half an hour to decide what to wear. He finally settled on a pair of trousers and a cotton shirt.  
  
As he scrambled around trying to collect his materials, he started sweating so he unbuttoned the top two buttons in hopes of cooling himself down.  
  
It was now fifteen minutes before Anne was supposed to arrive, and Gilbert still had to tidy the house and put the finishing touches on the snacks. He hurried into the kitchen where his father was helping Gilbert out by cutting up all the fruit and putting it all in the bowl. Gilbert sighed and thanked his father before rushing out to clean the house up a smidgeon.  
  
He put all out the newspapers away, all of the dirty laundry in the laundry basket, fluffed up all of the cushions in the living room, made his bed, cleared away a work area, and just as he was about to wash his face because he was so hot, the doorbell rang.  
  
He swore under his breath and quickly splashed some water onto his face, dried it off hurriedly and ran down the stairs just as the doorbell rang again.  
  
Gilbert opened the door, and came face to face with an extremely shocked Anne Shirley!  
  
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!! lol..I know! I'm evil for leaving a half cliffhanger but I'm sick today...so instead of wanting to kill me..feel pity for me! lol.jks..anyways.I just wanna tell you guys that I'm totally sorry for the HUGE delay..it's been like more then a month since I updated..and I wanna tell you guys that I'm not putting all that "thank you" stuff where you name all the reviewers in until after I'm done my story..which won't be fore QUITE a while! Lol.I plan on this story being pretty long but I'm not sure..plans DO change.lol..anyways..if you have any ideas for my plot, don't hesitate to REVIEW or e-mail me at lilypad4@hotmail.com with your ideas! I'd love to hear them.o and if you have MSN..add me! I'd love to chat with you guys! Lol..just tell me where I know you from so I don't think you're some crazy stalker...that's about it..o..and REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!! (as the saying goes! Lol) 


	6. Chapter 6

Hey you guys! I've had sooo many reviews telling me to hurry up and update..well.here's my reason for not updating for SUCH a long time! I was really busy...Ok..don't turn away now.it gets better...ok.I had so much stuff going on at school with the end of the year coming and my grad so close...i was working double hard on my piano pieces since I had exams and a concert...i went camping for 5 whole days..and then before that for 4 whole days...I've been helping my grandma and going over like every other day...*she baby-sits* ..i started a new Harry Potter fic..and I KNOW that I shouldn't have but I couldn't help myself!!!! The idea just popped into my head..it was originally going to be a one shot but I HAD to make it into something longer..lol.ok...that's about it...i couldn't get around everything..and on top of everything...my friend's been coming over like EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!!!!! it got sooo annoying but I had to stick it through..lol...THAT'S my reason...take it or leave it but I suggest you take it and read on...this is Chapter 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy!!!  
  
Anne spluttered, and took a step back as Gilbert opened the door with such, erm, energy. She hadn't expected such an enthusiastic welcome. She hadn't even expected him to be home. Anne looked straight at him and narrowed her eyes.  
  
"What are you doing home?" She asked suspiciously.  
  
"What are you ranting about? We were supposed to get together today.or did you forget?" Gilbert answered, exasperated.  
  
"Yes, I forgot. That's why I'm here having this pointless argument with you!" She growled, her famous redhead temper getting the best of her.  
  
"Oh, right. Come on in.I've cleared away a work area for us, and my father helped prepare some snacks for us. I thought you'd be here a while, since we have to study together." He said pointedly.  
  
"I don't know about you, but I was planning on being in and out as quick as humanly possible." She sniffed indignantly. The thought of spending more time than necessary with Gilbert Blythe was absurd.  
  
"Oh. Yeah, that's what I thought too, but I hoped to be hospitable." Gilbert murmured looking crestfallen.  
  
She peeked at him and saw him looking at his shoes, so she quipped, "Are we going to stand in the hall for the entire time, or what?"  
  
"Oh, this way." He pointed her down the hall and to a room on the right.  
  
Anne smiled when she entered, what she could only guess was, the family room. It was a cozy, rectangular room that had a merry fire going on one wall, and a whole wall covered in diplomas, certificates, trophies, and such like of Gilbert's and his father's. She looked all around and noted that there was indeed a large workspace that had been cleared on the coffee table, so she headed that way. He cleared his throat behind her, and she turned towards him with an annoyed look on her pale face.  
  
"What would you like?" She snapped.  
  
"I was just wondering.what do you think?" He mumbled, so that she barely heard.  
  
"What was that? Speak up!" She barked, beginning to get angry. How dare he waste her time?!  
  
"What do you think of the place?" He said in a slightly clearer tone.  
  
"Oh.I would say that it's very cozy." She looked around again, and said softly, "Your father must be very proud of you."  
  
Gilbert looked up at her, and saw her looking at their 'Wall of Honourable Mentions' with awe. He was even more surprised when she turned to him and said sadly, "I wish I had a father to be proud of me." But as soon as it was out of her mouth, she looked mortified and stuttered, "I didn't mean that! Matthew and Marilla are all that I've ever wanted!"  
  
He studied her closely and slowly nodded. Had she just opened up to him? He was ecstatic! She'd trusted him with that little piece of information! He smiled to himself, and soughed subtly. She turned her wide, green eyes to him and stared expectantly at him.  
  
"We should get started with our.studying. You don't want to be here any more than you have to." He looked at her briefly and immediately looked away. "I'll just go and get the snacks, and I'll be right back. You just start studying. We'll start with." He trailed off.  
  
"Math." Anne said decisively.  
  
"Ok. I'll be right back." Gilbert left the room and leaned back against the doorframe once he was out of sight. He sighed and looked at himself in the hall mirror. This is stupid, Gil! She's just a girl! Ah, but not just any girl! She's special He was thoroughly disgusted with himself for resorting to talking to himself and hurried off to the kitchen for the snacks.  
  
Meanwhile, Anne was arguing with herself too. Oh my gosh! Did I just open up to Gilbert Blythe? What was I thinking? You were thinking that he looked awfully handsome tonight! No I wasn't! Don't ever put 'Gilbert Blythe' and 'handsome' in the same sentence ever again. What was he wearing and how was he wearing it?! Oh come on! He looked EXTREMELY handsome with his top two buttons undone! I know you liked it because I AM you! Quiet! I certainly don't need my conscience to start kicking in right now! Anne gave up talking to herself and sat down to study. She opened up the Queen's manual they'd received and began studying.  
  
By the time that Gilbert came in, she was so deep into the book that she didn't even hear him come in. She only looked up when the smell of oranges came floating her way. She inhaled deeply and said, "I love oranges!"  
  
Gilbert smiled secretly. That made two confidences she'd made in him tonight. Maybe he'd get lucky and get three out of her by the time the night was over. Hang on, he thought, I'd better not get my hopes up!  
  
Anne was helping herself to rather large portions of oranges when he'd snapped back to reality. She stared at him guiltily for a few moments before slowly putting the handful of orange slices she held in her hands back down on the plate. Gilbert motioned for her to help herself, and she slightly grinned at him, although it could also be considered as politeness.  
  
While she ate, he studied her. He noticed her plain, blue dress and thought, She isn't the type for frilly, fancy dresses. I much despise those girls who 'doll' themselves up for any occasion. I'd say she's perfect! He surprised himself with his thoughts and immediately turned his attention back to the book in Anne's lap, as she'd dropped it in her mad dash for the oranges.  
  
She handed it to him while popping an especially juicy piece of orange into her mouth, and he smirked at her. Anne huffed when she saw him smirking and resolved to eat all of his oranges! That would show him!  
  
"Ok. Anne, what is the Pythagorean Theorem and explain how you'd work it on this shape." Gilbert handed her the book and she recited the meaning while reaching for a pencil to begin the task at hand.  
  
"Ha! Done! Let's see you do it faster than that!" Anne sneered triumphantly.  
  
Gilbert seemed mildly interested, but he shrugged it off and said, "Congratulations. That was extremely fast and it's all correct. I'd probably do it in that time-" Anne huffed, "- but it would probably be wrong." He finished pointedly.  
  
"Well, thank you." She was clearly confused as to why he was being polite. Maybe it was some sort of plot to get her to let down her guard! Ha! She'd show him! It wouldn't work! Not on Anne Shirley! Her eyes sparkled triumphantly and she looked back and Gilbert.  
  
"It's your turn. Do the one on page 17." She muttered, picking up another orange.  
  
"Alright. Just give me a minute to figure this out." He stroked him chin thoughtfully, and began scribbling away furiously. Anne looked deep in thought for a minute before reaching for another orange.  
  
"Done!" Gilbert announced five minutes later.  
  
"Took you long enough!" Anne muttered slyly.  
  
"Hey! I didn't complain when you did it!" He argued.  
  
"Yeah, but you said yourself that I did it quickly!" She stormed.  
  
"Yeah, well. That was just so that you wouldn't be on my case about how you could have done it faster!" Gilbert raged.  
  
"What? You told me what I wanted to hear just so that I wouldn't get mad at you?" Anne sputtered.  
  
Gilbert was turning red quickly and quickly said, "It was just so that you could remain friendly with me this one time. I didn't mean anything by it! Honest!"  
  
Anne looked betrayed. "I never want to speak to you again Gilbert Blythe! I'm going to talk to Ms. Stacey as soon as I can tomorrow morning and I'm calling this whole arrangement off!"  
  
She stood up, grabbed what was left of the oranges, and stormed right out of their house. Gilbert followed her half the way home, trying to plead with her to make her forgive him for some nameless, in his opinion, offense. Anne, however, was as stubborn as her red hair made her out to be, and refused to talk to him at all. In the end, he'd given up and told her that he'd talk to her tomorrow. She'd turned around and threw and small rock at his head.  
  
He surely retreated after that. He hung his head as he entered his house and went to clean up. That's when he saw it. He notebook. She'd left it here in her hurry to get away. He smiled. She'd have to talk to him if he was bringing something of hers' back, wouldn't she? He certainly thought so.  
  
Meanwhile, Anne stormed into Green Gables and faced an anxious-looking Marilla who tried to talk Anne into details of how her night went.  
  
"Marilla, I'm never going to talk to Gilbert Blythe again! He's the most rude, crude, obnoxious-ugh! I can't even talk of him without getting mad beyond belief! I need to go to bed! I'll talk to you about it in the morning, ok?" Anne stormed past the elder woman and took the stairs as fast as she could.  
  
Marilla shook her head after Anne. "Will that girl never realize true love until she's lost it?" The thought pained her much more than she would have thought.  
  
Hey you guys! I just wanna say sorry that this chapter's sooooo late! Lol.ok..in answer to Dra..OF COURSE YOU CAN PUT IT ON YOUR SITE!!! ~* just make sure that my name's along with it! lol*~ ummm..thanx to ALL of you who reviewed!!!! I love you all!!!!!!!! Ummmmmmmm..I love all of you who told me you've put me on faves lists too!!!!!! I was sooo proud!!!!!!!!!! Lol..ok...I've gots to be going now..and just to tell you again...I'm putting all the thank-you's in at the very end.like AFTER I'm done the story! Lol.ok..just be patient and I'm in summer now so I'll have more time to update...*cough* sure *cough* lol.ok....I'll try to update like every two or three weeks...that's the fastest cuz I have to work on my HP fic too...that's it...REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!! 


	7. Chapter 7

Hey you guys. I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this in forever but I dedicated all of my day today to updating all of my stories!!! I'm so sorry.but I think I'm gonna end this story soon. I've kinda run out of ideas.maybe in the next 3 chapters or so.I dunno. Maybe I'll end up continuing it for forever but hey! We'll see. Anyways.I'm sorry, but here's the next chapter. Enjoy!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Anne! But Anne! I need to talk to you!" Gilbert pleaded with the stony- faced girl who sat beside him. She refused to even look at him. He growled slightly and thrusted her notebook under her nose. She gasped and looked at him with wide eyes.  
  
"Give it back!" She hissed.  
  
"Not until you talk to me!" Gilbert then proceeded to wave her notebook around just out of her reach.  
  
"Mr. Blythe! Please return that notebook to Miss Shirley and move over two desks." Miss Stacey interrupted what looked to be a vicious squabble.  
  
Gilbert's face fell, but he nonetheless handed Anne her notebook and dejectedly picked his things up. As he was walking away, he thought he heard Anne give a victorious 'humph' before focusing all of her attention on Miss Stacey.  
  
Gilbert sat there doodling on his own notebook while Miss Stacey continued to teach basic arithmetic to the rest of the class. He was supposed to be working on his Queen's Preparatory Workbook that he had received in order to prepare him for his examination in five months. He sat there looking blankly at the page. It held some of the toughest algebra problems that he'd yet encountered, and yet, he couldn't care less.  
  
He stole a glance at Anne, and found her to be madly scribbling away in her workbook. Gilbert smiled to himself and muttered a silent "Figures." Anne turned around and glared at him for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. He then proceeded to give her a charming smile back and watched in satisfaction as she turned around in her seat almost immediately.  
  
Finally, it was time for lunch. Surely he could corner her then and talk to her. He smirked to himself at the thought of her reaction when he told her what he wanted to tell her. He raced out of class as soon as Miss Stacey announced that they were free to go. He was planning on waiting for Anne outside and as soon as she came out, he would ambush her with apologies and demand that they be on speaking terms again.  
  
Besides, if that didn't work, he could always remind her that they had to get together tonight to work on their history. By the looks of things, he hoped that they were going to be studying at her house. If they were at her house, she'd be forced to act welcoming and polite. He smiled at the memory of her taking to the oranges so well. He'd been just about to offer to get some most when she'd stormed out. That was one of the more disastrous memories of the evening.  
  
Anne walked out and watched with wide eyes as Gilbert dashed for her and began demanding that she accept his apologies. She fumed, and waited for him to finish with his nervous breakdown. She smirked at him as he watched her with a vulnerability in his eyes that was so foreign to her. Frowning, she nodded mutely and watched as his expression tuned disbelieving. She watched as he leaned forward to embrace her. She watched as he released her with a happy expression on his face. She watched as Josie Pye came up to him and demanded that he eat lunch with her. She watched as he took one last elated look at her before walking off with Josie. She just watched.  
  
Finally, Diana came out and elbowed her sharply in the ribs. She jumped and glared at Diana. Diana looked at her knowingly and they walked off to eat lunch in the orchard. One of these days, she really had to set things straight for Diana! She seemed to think that she knew everything that was going on. Well, she had news for her! She herself didn't even know what was going on. Why had she just accepted Gilbert's apology. Hadn't she sworn that she'd never forgive him? Hadn't she been the one that had been so mad at him for lying? Hadn't she been the one that.let him hug her? She suddenly shook violently.  
  
Diana looked at her concernedly. "What's wrong Anne?"  
  
"Oh nothing. Diana, when did things change so drastically?" Anne asked desperately.  
  
"Oh, I don't know. I'd say when you first fell in love with Gil." Diana answered in a superior voice.  
  
Anne blanched. What was she supposed to say to that? How about, "Diana, are you completely off your rocker? My god! The things you come up with! I don't even like Gilbert."  
  
Diana smirked. "So, we're back to calling him Gilbert now? No more 'Mr. Blythe'? Goodness Anne. Make up your mind. Either you hate him or you love him!"  
  
Anne sputtered. "Diana! That's preposterous! I can't believe you would propose something that ridiculous!"  
  
"Speaking of proposals, here comes 'Mr. Blythe' now." Diana teased and looked up as a dark shadow formed over the two of them.  
  
"Diana! Don't tease!" Anne fumed, but turned as she saw a shadow fall over them.  
  
"Hello Diana. Anne." Gilbert greeted.  
  
"Gilbert. How are you? I haven't talked to you in quite a while!" Diana greeted enthusiastically.  
  
"Gilbert." Anne said stiffly.  
  
"I just came to ask Anne something." Diana made to move away but Gilbert held up a hand. "No don't leave Diana. It'll only take a minute." He turned to Anne. "So, we are meeting at your house tonight, are we not? It's only fair, since we met at my house last night!"  
  
Anne stared straight ahead, as if forcing herself not to look at Gilbert. "Yes of course. We are indeed meeting at my house. Shall we say around 7?" He nodded and she smiled slightly. "Alright. I'll see you at my house at 7 then Gilbert. Have a good day."  
  
Gilbert smiled once more at Anne and walked away.  
  
Diana squealed and turned to Anne. "He fancies you Anne! It's so obvious and everyone except you can see it! Even Josie sees it! That's why she's trying to pull Gil away from you!"  
  
"I sincerely doubt that. But if in fact it were true, do you not think that Gilbert would have told me by now? He's not exactly shy." Anne hissed forcefully.  
  
"Anne, who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?" Diana asked quietly and solemnly.  
  
Anne turned to her and look at her in what she hoped was an angry manner. Little did she know that she had a pensive look on her face. Almost as though she were thinking of what the answer to Diana's question might be.  
  
Diana smiled to herself and went back to eating her lunch.  
  
When lunch was over, they all returned to class, and Miss Stacey instructed them to get into their groups and work on their plays. Anne groaned out loud and Diana looked over at her with a startled look on her face. Anne never looked disappointed publicly; especially not in school where everyone could see her, including Miss Stacey.  
  
"Anne, Gilbert. Would you please come up here?" Miss Stacey's voice rang out over the excited chatter around them.  
  
Anne grumbled and grudgingly allowed herself to be pushed to the front of the room by Diana. Gilbert arrived at her side within seconds and Miss Stacey looked at the two of them expectantly.  
  
"Well? How did last night go? Did the two of you get any work done? Last night was your first night working together, no? Alright, I expect that nothing went wrong and that you'll be getting together tonight too. Where are you meeting tonight?" She looked at the happily, as though the arrangement was going according to plan.  
  
"We're meeting at my house, Miss Stacey." Anne said in a dull voice, as though she were trying to hide what she really felt.  
  
Miss Stacey smiled inwardly, and said, "Alright. I expect to see some progress tomorrow. You two will stay after school tomorrow and work on your English Literature so that you will be free for performance night tomorrow."  
  
Anne paled. That's right! Performance night was Friday night. Tomorrow night! They'd only had the play for a week, and already they were performing it! She felt quite sick!  
  
Gilbert jumped for joy mentally. Tomorrow night, he was going to get to kiss Anne. He was on top of the world! Indeed he was! He was ever so grateful to Miss Stacey for making them do this play. After all, hadn't Anne just forgiven him? Things were moving up! Maybe he might even get her to forgive him fully and then they could be friends.or more! He laughed gleefully inwardly. Outwardly, he smiled at Miss Stacey and said, "Yes, tomorrow's the big night. I can't believe it's here already. I hope everyone's prepared."  
  
Miss Stacey looked at Gilbert fleetingly and gave him a quick smile, but turned back to Anne. "Gilbert, would you mind returning to your group? I just need a moment with Anne."  
  
After Gilbert had walked off, Miss Stacey turned to Anne. "Now Anne, what have you decided? Are you indeed going to be in the play?"  
  
Anne turned her big, green/gray eyes on Miss Stacey. "I-I-I'm not sure. I thought I could do it. But now I'm not sure."  
  
"Anne, I'm sure your group would be ever so grateful if you did indeed do this!" Miss Stacey tried to get Anne to agree.  
  
Anne nodded slightly to indicate that she knew this. Then, she walked back to her group after Miss Stacey said that she could go.  
  
Diana ran frantically up to Anne. "Anne, oh Anne! You simply must be Juliet! I surely cannot be expected to do it! I have such extreme stage fright! Anne you're the only one who's prepared enough to do it!"  
  
Anne waved her off, and said, "Let's start practicing shall we?"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Anne felt as though she would be sick at any moment. Tonight was Performance Night and she still hadn't decided how she felt about Gilbert. She still hadn't decided if she would go through with the play or not. She had no clue whether or not she hated him.or something else.  
  
Marilla walked into her room to wake her up and found Anne already up. "Oh good, child you must get ready for school. I hear tonight's the night. Matthew and me will be there! We're so proud of you."  
  
Marilla made Anne's bed on this special day and hurried her to the washroom to wash up.  
  
Anne looked at her tired eyes in the mirror. She looked horrible. How could she possibly do this? She couldn't! That was the problem.  
  
She got dressed and went downstairs, where Matthew had made her a full breakfast so that she could keep her energy up. She smiled and ate a little bit of everything. Matthew looked at her concernedly and she smiled reassuringly at him. She kissed him goodbye and headed out to meet Diana.  
  
Diana was waiting for her at Lover's Lane, and as soon as she arrived, she ambushed her with questions as to whether or not she was going to go on tonight.  
  
Anne held up a hand to steady the flow of questions and responded with a very quiet "I'm not sure."  
  
Diana backed off, and they walked to school in silence for the first time.  
  
As soon as Anne walked in and saw Gilbert, her stomach gave a flutter and she immediately thought, I can't do this!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hey..what's Anne gonna do? I'll tell that in the next update, which will be very soon! I promise!!! REVIEW!!! TAH for now!! ~lilypad 


	8. Chapter 8

OMG! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this in more than a year. I just completely forgot about everything in the amount of homework and practices, etc. I won't bore you with the details, but here's Chapter 8! Enjoy!

Gilbert turned in his chair and saw Anne standing, frozen, by the door. He frowned slightly and waved her over, smiling slightly as she slowly started to move towards him.

"Good morning, Anne. Tonight's the big night. Are you prepared to perform for everyone?" Gilbert smiled kindly at her, lest she interpret it in the wrong way.

Anne looked at him blankly, and only responded after a sharp elbow in the ribs from Diana. "Oh, sorry. Of course I'm ready for tonight. Who do you think you're talking to!" She demanded huffily, and much more confidently than she felt.

Gilbert turned to Diana and raised an eyebrow, silently asking _What was that about?_ Diana shrugged and moved to her own seat as Anne sat down beside Gilbert.

Miss Stacey started her lesson, teaching the class all about Greek mythology. As she turned to the board to write down the names of a few Greek myths, Gilbert turned to Anne and asked, "What's wrong?"

Her head snapped to the side to look at him, and he saw her tired eyes. She glared for a second, then seemed to remember that they were on speaking terms and said, "Absolutely nothing. Why would anything be wrong? Everything is perfectly alright. I'm just excited for tonight." Then she abruptly turned away and looked to the front again.

Gilbert looked at her profile strangely, and then turned to the front as well, thinking _Something's definitely wrong._

After the lunch break, Miss Stacey gave everyone the rest of the afternoon to practice their plays for the big performance that night. Diana tapped Anne on the shoulder as soon as Miss Stacey finished talking, and asked urgently, "Are you going to be Juliet?"

Anne turned back to Diana, and glared at her, then said, "I'm still deciding," in a tight voice. She turned back to her seat and put her head down on her arms and closed her eyes. Diana looked at her friend's back worriedly and decided not to pester her anymore.

After letting Anne ponder for fifteen minutes, Gilbert tapped her arm and recoiled as her head snapped up and she looked at him with wide eyes. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Are you ready to practice Anne?"

She nodded mutely and brought out her script from her desk. The rest of the group followed her as she got up and went to 'their' practice corner of the room. Thus, the final practice, with the whole group present, began.

"Anne! Gilbert!" Miss Stacey called to them from the front of the room, where she was tidying up her desk. Both students made their ways up to her desk, where she looked at them sternly. "You two are to stay behind at the school today to study for Queen's. I don't want to come back here on Monday morning and find that anything has been broken, like your slate, Anne!"

Anne blushed slightly and hung her head, while Gilbert looked ready to burst out laughing.

"I promise I won't break anything in the classroom Miss Stacey." Anne mumbled, and turned away to go to her desk.

"Me neither." Gilbert said and followed Anne back to their desks.

Miss Stacey watched the two of them walk away and sighed, while rubbing her temples tiredly.

" 'Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd.'" Gilbert pronounced dramatically.

"No, no no! You have to say it as if you're regretful of the loss of his life. Not as if you're pronouncing it for an audience. Forget the audience, and just pretend you're alone in the tomb with Paris' slain body, and you're very sorrowful because you've caused his death." Anne was gesturing wildly by now as she tried to explain the emotions behind the scene.

"Yes ma'am!" Gilbert saluted her smartly, and began his lines again.

Anne listened and nodded slightly when she heard the wistful note in his voice as he talked of the dead Paris. Then, all too soon, she heard him pronounce, " 'O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.'"

Gilbert looked at Anne expectantly, and saw she was shrinking away. "Oh for heaven's sakes, Anne! We **have** to practice the kiss before tonight. Now would be the perfect time. There's nobody around, and you won't have to get embarrassed."

Anne blushed and looked down. Then she looked up, and there was indecisiveness in her eyes. When she looked down again and sighed, Gilbert knew he'd won. Finally! He'd get to **kiss** Anne Shirley after all these years of pining away for her.

"So you'll do it?" Gilbert couldn't keep the glee from his voice.

"If we really **have** to…" Anne trailed off. Then her head snapped up and she went on hurriedly, "But we have to start from the very beginning of the scene to do it right. And it's got to be a very short kiss!"

Gilbert grinned and nodded. Seeing as the other people in their group weren't there, Anne insisted that they each read a part that wasn't theirs so that they could do the whole scene.

Anne was quaking inside. The end of the scene and the…kiss…was coming up very quickly and the moment would come when she would have to…kiss Gilbert Blythe! It was something that she had never imagined doing. Never in her wildest dreams! She was dreading it now.

"O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die." Gilbert recited and began leaning slowly in towards Anne.

Why hadn't she noticed how close he had come to her? She was lying on a desk, pretending to be dead, and Gilbert was hovering above her. She moved to sit up, but Gilbert's hand on her shoulder-When had that gotten there-restrained her.

Then, his lips touched hers and every coherent thought she might've formed about the situation flew out of her head. All she could think of was his kiss. It was so sweet and chaste, yet so full of passion. Upon later scrutiny, she was mortified to figure out that she was indeed kissing him back. She'd even brought her hands up to wrap them around his neck.

Suddenly, she realized what was going on, and she abruptly pushed Gilbert away. Anne could feel her face burning. She mumbled an incoherent apology, quickly gathered her things and ran out of the classroom, ignoring Gilbert's call of "I'll see you tonight!"

Meanwhile, Gilbert stood there after Anne had pushed him away, dumbstruck. She **had** kissed him back, and she **had** wrapped her arms around his neck. Perhaps there was hope that she didn't hate him after all. And the kiss! It had been amazing. Sure, Gilbert had kissed girls before, but this kiss had just seemed so special that he intended to cherish the moment forever. Or at least until next time he got a chance to kiss Anne Shirley. Tonight.

Anne ran blindly towards home. She stopped at the foot of the forest to drop to the ground and lean her back against a tree, hiding her head in her knees. _What did I just do? Did I actually **enjoy** kissing Gilbert Blythe?_

Well, truth be told, he was a **very** good kisser, but it wasn't like she had anyone to compare him to. As she reached her house, Anne saw Marilla sitting on the front porch sewing, so she mumbled a quick 'How do you do?' and hurried into the house.

Marilla stared after Anne as she shut the door rather forcefully, shook her head, and turned back to her sewing.

Anne had spent the past hour dwelling on what she should do. The performance was less than two hours away, and she still hadn't made up her mind about whether or not she would go. She sighed, dropped her head in her hands, and closed her eyes.

Gilbert paced back and forth at the White Sands Hall, unable to think of anything except Anne. Would she show up tonight? She had seemed very distraught as she had run out of the schoolhouse that afternoon. What if she didn't show up?

Diana came up beside him and placed her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. She looked at him reassuringly, and said, "She'll be here. Don't worry."

He nodded silently, and silently remarked, _I hope so._

Fifteen minutes later, and after endless pacing on Gilbert's part, Miss Stacey came backstage and announced to the students that the performances would be starting in a few minutes. Then she spotted Gilbert and came over.

She looked around sadly, and said, "Anne's not here." It wasn't a question. It was a statement, an observation made by an outsider.

Gilbert slowly shook his head, but said desperately, "She might show up before our scene. Anne wouldn't let us down like that, would she?"

Miss Stacey looked at Gilbert sadly, then turned away and called Diana forward. "You will need to play Juliet, Diana. Anne is not here. And despite the disappointment I'm sure you are all feeling, the show must go on."

Diana was paler than Gilbert or Moody had every seen her, and they looked at her worriedly. Then she said in a high voice, "I can't be Juliet. I simply can't. I get stage fright, and I-I-I'll forget my lines."

Moody moved towards her and tried to calm her down. By the time Diana was calm, the performance was already in progress and two of the groups had already performed their scenes.

As he looked out the window, Gilbert didn't hear Miss Stacey until she came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's time to go on," she said quietly.

His stomach dropped, and his heart sank. Anne wasn't here, and it was all his fault.

DUN DUN DUNNNN! What a cliffhanger…well, not really, but I'll seriously try to update really soon. I have a few days off before semester two starts, so I might be able to type another chapter. There will only be a couple more chapters, at most, so this story's almost done. Thanks for reading and leave a review!


	9. Chapter 9

Hello, hello. Sorry about the inexcusable delay, but this story is almost done…one more chapter should do it. Read on and…Enjoy!

Diana was ready to start crying as she, Moody, and Gilbert moved out on stage. _Whereis Anne? Why would she let us down like this? Something must be horribly wrong!_ These thoughts kept swirling through her head as they prepared to begin the scene. Gilbert and Moody has just finished setting up the desks in the corner of the stage where she –Diana, not Anne! she thought, panicked- would lie as Juliet. Finally, they were ready to start and they all moved offstage, behind a curtain.

Moody and Diana moved on the stage, acting as Juliet's intended husband, Paris, and his page, each of them bearing flowers, and the page bearing a torch.

Moody began. "Give me thy torch, boy: hence, and stand aloof; Yet put it out, for I would not be seen." He continued until he had said his last line, "Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee; go." Moody reached out to Diana, who was the page, and took the flowers from her.

Diana looked shocked as Moody took the flowers from her, looked at the audience with wide eyes, then seemed to snap out of her reverie and pronounced, in hushed tones to the audience in an aside, "I am almost afraid to stand alone Here in the churchyard; yet I will adventure." She left the stage.

Diana, backstage, could still hear Moody reciting his soliloquy, and heard him say the line that set up Gilbert to give a loud, piercing whistle as warning that someone was coming. Finally, just as Diana stepped out dressed as Juliet, Moody retired off the stage and Gilbert, with Charlie Sloane as Balthasar, his trusted servant, waltzed on the stage.

Gilbert began with, "Give me that mattock, and the wrenching iron."

Diana looked at Moody with wide, terrified eyes, and silently pleaded, _Don't make me do this! I can't be Juliet!_

Moody looked at her sadly. "I know, Diana, but Anne's not here and you're the only other girl that knows the lines. I'm sorry."

Diana hung her head slightly, and decided that she **could** get through this. She quickly moved from one end of the stage to the other, behind the curtains, and quietly arranged herself to look dead on her 'tomb' of desks. The tomb was, so far, protected from the audience's view by a light curtain, that Gilbert would draw away when he opened the tomb.

Finally, after Gilbert had sent Charlie away, he made his way across the stage, and drew away the curtain. Before he had gotten a good look at 'Juliet', Moody entered the stage as Paris and declared, "This is that banish'd haughty Montague, The murder'd my love's cousin, with which grief It is supposed the fair creature died."

Gilbert had whipped around to face Moody, and Diana listened as they talked back and forth. She heard their wooden swords clash as they fought, and finally heard Moody 'die', proclaiming, "O, I am slain! –If thou be merciful, Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet."

Gilbert hauled Moody's prone body into the tomb, and laid him right beside the desk on which Diana was laying, dead. He then began his long-winded soliloquy while standing over Diana as Juliet. She heard him say, "O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."

Diana opened her eyes just in time to see Gilbert lean stiffly into her, and they both awkwardly pressed their lips together briefly. Then, she felt Gilbert slump over her, having died.

At this point in their scene, they had someone draw the curtain so the Moody could be replaced with a straw dummy as the dead Paris, and so he could go offstage and re-enter as Friar Laurence.

Diana heard Gilbert breathe, "I can't believe she didn't show up…I never thought she wouldn't!"

Diana, in turn, muttered, "I'm going to kill her, when I see her!" and felt Gilbert give a jerk of laughter.

As they lay there, both dead, and listening to Moody and Charlie Sloane (as Balthasar) talk and enter the tomb, and discover the three dead bodies, both were thinking one thing. _What happened to Anne?_

"Romeo! O, pale! Who else? what! Paris too? And steep'd in blood? Ah! what an unkind hour Is guilty of this lamentable chance. The lady stirs." Moody announced all of this to the audience in a deeply sorrowful tone, and Diana almost missed her cue to begin to move, having awakened.

She then began, in a tremulous voice, "O, comfortable friar! where is my lord? I do remember well where I should be, And there I am. Where is my Romeo?

Thoughts were racing through her mind as she began her lines. _Oh my Gosh! I can't do this! I'm going to mess up, and I'll be the laughingstock of all of Avonlea for ages!_ However, as she worked her way through her lines, she began thinking, _This isn't so hard. I can't believe I was scared out of my wits about this!_

She came to her last line, and proclaimed, "Yea, noise? then I'll be brief. O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rest, and let me die." Diana had grabbed the wooden dagger from Gilbert, and now stabbed herself with it, slumping over Gilbert's motionless form.

This was where they'd ended their scene, because they hadn't had enough people in their group to do the final portion of the scene. After a minute, to let the drama sink in for the audience, Gilbert and Diana stood up, and joined hands with Moody and Charlie Sloane, and took a bow amid thunderous applause. As Diana glanced to the side to see Miss Stacey, she thought she saw red hair and a blue, gingham dress walking away through the throng of people waiting offstage for them.

"Anne," she murmured.

Anne had fallen asleep. She had, pure and simply, fallen asleep. She had been so stressed about the performance, and having to kiss Gilbert Blythe again, that she had fallen asleep while pondering if she would be Juliet or not. And as she awoke, she had the feeling that something was dreadfully wrong. She sat up slowly, and rubbed her eyes, trying to call up from the deepest recesses of her mind, what it was that was so **wrong**. Then, as she looked at the clock, she knew. She knew that she had missed the performance.

And just like that, Anne Shirley knew that she had missed her chance, just like Marilla had missed hers.

Of course, that didn't stop Anne from jumping off the bed, and dashing into the bathroom to clean herself up and at least try to make it to the Hotel where the performance was to take place. As she washed her face, she thought furiously. _Why didn't Marilla or Matthew wake me up? They should've woken me up!_

Then, a thought struck her, and she froze. Marilla had woken her up. She had come into her room and scolded Anne for not being ready. And Anne had barely listened, and then, as Marilla had been about to drag her out of her bed, she had said that she was getting up right now, and that they (Marilla and Matthew) should just go on ahead and get a good seat at the play, and that she would be along in a minute. Marilla had relented, and had left Anne to her own devices to get ready and make it to the Hotel. But Anne –what had she been thinking? she scolded herself furiously- had thought about getting up, and had just dropped right back onto her bed and fallen asleep.

Now, she had awoken with a jolt, and a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

_It serves me right! _she thought furiously. _I should've woken up when Marilla came in to tell me to get ready! I should've gone with them, instead of insisting on going by myself._

She flew down the stairs, wrenched open the door, and took off running to the hotel. Within five minutes, she had the hotel in her sights. She could see that there were some people that were leaving, and the feeling of dread in her stomach increased ten-fold. She tore up the stairs of the hotel, and made her way to where she thought the backstage area would be. As she passed through the crowds, she saw some of her colleagues, and they all gave her nasty looks, as though she had let **everyone** down. _Well, _she thought reasonably, _I may as well have! How well is this going to reflect on the school?_

She pushed and shoved her way backstage, and what she saw on the stage made her insides freeze. She saw that their scene was over. Both Gilbert and Diana had died, and were now standing up to take a bow. Everyone was clapping, and that brought tears to her eyes. That should've been her out there onstage! If only she hadn't lost so much sleep over the issue last night! If only she hadn't insisted that Marilla leave her alone to prepare! If only…if only…

She sighed a defeated sigh, and turned away from the stage. Her group would be so unbearably disappointed in her that she couldn't face them right now. She began pushing her way out of the hotel, and then stopped. _No. I can't leave without at least trying to explain…at least to Gilbert. He'd understand. I can't take the easy way out again._ She changed directions and made her way to the backstage exit, where she was sure most of the actors would come out.

As she hunkered down and prepared herself for a substantial wait, she briefly thought that she probably should've brought a coat as it was quite cold outside at night. She shivered, and then sat down on an old, overturned barrel, keeping her eyes glued to the door.

Ten minutes later, she was still waiting, only now, she was also shivering more violently. In fact, she was shivering so violently that her teeth had begun to chatter incessantly. But still, she kept her eyes glued to the door, and she knew that she wouldn't move until he came out and she had a chance to explain.

Finally, after another ten minutes of waiting, she saw the door open, and a throng of people pushed their way out. Many of them didn't even look at her, and she couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes. Just as she thought that he had decided to go out the other way, she saw him coming as the door was closing. He was alone, and bundled up in a coat and scarf. As he pushed open the door, he looked up, and froze.

She stood up painfully, having almost frozen in that position, and made to take a step toward him, when she saw his expression.

He was frozen in the door way, looking at her through angry, tortured eyes. "Anne…" he hissed.

"Gil, I…" She raised her hand, as if to reach out and touch him…to assure herself that he really there, but her hand dropped back to her side. She suddenly asked herself what it was that she could say to someone who looked so disappointed, so angry, and so unbearably hurt?

And just as suddenly, she didn't have to say anything, because he had forcefully shut the door, and had taken off, away from her…and he was getting farther, and farther. And the farther he got, the more she began to think that the distance between them this time couldn't be breached…not by her efforts, and certainly not by his.

Alright, that's it for this chapter. Aren't you all sad now that Anne's realized it, and Gilbert's given up on it? It was sad…and sorry for all the confusing references to Shakespeare in the first half of the chapter, but I decided that it would be better if you could see the story play out. Anyway…I don't know when I can next update, but hopefully I can end this story this week…the final week before school starts. So, leave a review please, and check back soon.

lilypad


	10. Chapter 10

Allo, allo! I can't believe I'm updating so soon! It's the next day, and I've decided to update…Shocking, isn't it? Anyway, I just have time right now…and I'm taking full advantage of it. So, enjoy the chapter!

Anne stood frozen to her spot, watching Gilbert getting ever farther away. And suddenly, she snapped out of her dream-like state when her teeth began to chatter again, and took off running after him. Just as she had caught up with him, she turned to her and gave her the nastiest look he had ever given **her**, and she faltered for a second. That look was like a physical hit to her stomach. Why did it hurt so much that he was mad at her? No. No, it didn't hurt because he was mad at her…at least, that wasn't all that hurt. It hurt even more to know that she had disappointed him so grievously. She had now caught up with him fully, and was jogging along as he took long strides, trying to get away from her.

"G-Gilbert. I need to e-explain what happened t-tonight." _Curse my chattering teeth! It doesn't sound as sincere anymore, _Anne thought angrily.

He looked at her, and she thought she saw a flash of concern, but it was quickly replaced by anger and annoyance. "Anne, there's nothing to talk about. You didn't show up for out big performance because you hate me, and I've finally got the message."

"N-no! I-It's not like that-," Anne began, but Gilbert cut her off.

"I just can't believe you'd sacrifice your grades, and your best friend for this. I get it, Anne. I get that you don't like me at all. I get that you'd rather fail English than have to act like you're in love with me for one night. But what I don't get is…was it worth it if you're going to lose Diana in the end? Was it worth losing your 'bosom friend'? Anyway, that's really all I had to say to you, so if you'll excuse me…" He made a move to sidestep her, and move away, but she wouldn't let him get rid of her that easily.

"Y-you don't understand a-at all, G-Gilbert! I d-didn't show u-up b-because I f-fell asleep." Anne hung her head, aware of how ridiculous that sounded. She knew that it also made her sound so very flippant that she nearly wanted to burst out laughing. Then she looked up at Gilbert's face, and she knew that he didn't believe her.

He was looking at her with an expression of disbelief and disappointment. "Anne, if you don't want to tell me what happened tonight, you don't have to. But don't go inventing some story about sleeping in, because I'm not going to buy it!" He took off even faster, so that Anne had to practically run to keep up.

"I'm n-not making this u-up! It's the a-absolute t-truth! I lost so m-much sleep over the i-issue last night, a-and I j-just fell as-asleep when I g-got home, and I w-was con-contemplating whether or n-not to s-show up." Anne was looking up at him, but now she looked down, and saw that she was trembling all over. _Damn it! I should have thought to bring something warmer than just my gingham dress! Or at least a hat so my teeth wouldn't chatter quite so badly!_

Gilbert looked at her, and finally said, "You should get home, Anne. It's cold out here, and you're dressed very thinly."

Anne stared in disbelief. That was it! That was all he had to say to her, now? She felt her famous, redhead temper rising, and rushed in front of his path. "G-Gilbert Blythe! I e-explained what happened! W-why won't you b-believe me? Does it sound j-just **so** unbelievable that A-anne S-shirley could m-make **one** m-mistake? I s-said I was s-sorry, but you g-guys seem to have d-done alright without m-me." She felt tears come to her eyes. "I'm s-sorry I wasn't there. Y-you have no idea h-how sorry I am that I-I wasn't there, a-and I'm s-so sorry that I've l-let you all d-down, but what's d-done is done, and I c-can't change the p-past." She stood breathless, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. Then, Gilbert got angry.

"Who do you think you are, getting angry at me right now? I should be the one that's screaming at you about how you've let us all down, and how I never want to see you again. You're just so far up on that high horse of yours that it probably wouldn't even matter what I said to you at this point. You've never cared about me, Anne, and I finally figured that out! But I know that you care about Diana a lot, and what you did tonight doesn't show even an ounce of that care. So, don't talk to me about accepting your apologies, because, in my eyes, there's nothing to apologize for if you never cared about me to start with. It's Diana and Moody you should be begging forgiveness from, because they were your friends!" He turned to go, but she had started talking and now jogged alongside him.

"I know I-I should be asking D-diana's forgiveness right now. And M-moody's, but I c-came to you f-first because I thought y-you'd understand! I th-thought you'd g-get why I d-didn't show up t-tonight. Jesus, G-gilbert! Boy, w-was I wrong? B-because you d-don't understand! N-not anymore, apparently. The r-reason I didn't-**c-couldn't**-come t-tonight isn't b-because I don't c-care about you at a-all! It's b-because I don't know h-how to deal with h-how m-much you've c-come to mean t-to me!" Anne stopped walking and just looked after him as he took a few steps away from her.

He looked at her for a long moment, and then said in a low voice, "You should get home. It's quite cold out here, and you'll get sick." Then, he turned away and strode quickly down the path and towards his house.

Anne looked after him, tears coming to her eyes, and this time, she just let them flow. She stood in the middle of the street and watched **him** walk away from her without looking back, and she remembered how she had probably left him in the exact same position countless times. How had he gotten over the feeling of utter despair that was welling up inside of her right now? Maybe he knew that one day, she would come around and realize what had always been in front of her. But how did **she** comfort herself, knowing that he would never come around? Knowing that she had missed her chance…the biggest chance of her entire life? She turned away when she couldn't see him anymore, and slowly walked home, barely feeling the cold anymore. Because that cold on the outside was nothing compared to the ice she felt around her heart.

Gilbert walked home quickly, her words still resonating in his head. _The reason I didn't-couldn't- come tonight isn't because I don't care about you at all! It's because I don't know how to deal with how much you've come to mean to me!_ Of course, she had said it more eloquently, with quite a few stutters thrown in for good measure to show just how cold she was.

How could she think that **now**, after he had finally gotten the message, he could believe her when she said she cared about him? He couldn't believe her, and that was that! He had just convinced himself that Anne Shirley would never care about him the way he had so obviously cared about her, and he couldn't go back to all the heartache he had felt every time she had rejected him so heartlessly.

So, he got home, and he prepared the hot water so he could take a warm bath, and he prepared all of his Queen's preparation booklets so he could study, and he changed out of his performance clothes. However, as he was doing all of this, he couldn't help thinking that one, disarming, almost comforting thought.

_I wonder what Anne's doing right now…_

Anne slowly and numbly walked through the front door, and was greeted by Matthew and Marilla running towards her, crying out words of welcome, and asking her where she'd been?

"Child, what happened? Why didn't you show up at the Hotel? And why on earth didn't you take a coat with you so you wouldn't freeze?" Marilla fussed around her, feeling her forehead, feeling her hands, putting a shawl around her shoulders.

Anne answered in a dull voice, "I'm sorry Marilla. I'm sorry Matthew. I know you must be terribly disappointed in me, but I fell asleep and I woke up too late to make it to the performance."

"Oh, pish-posh! I know you fell asleep, but I woke you up. Where did you go after I woke you up?" Marilla was bustling off to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder that she was going to make Anne a cup of tea, and that Matthew should prepare a warm bath for her.

"No, Marilla, Matthew. Please. I don't want anything right now. I just want to go up to my room and go to bed, and try to forget this nightmare of a day. And Marilla? I did fall asleep again after you left. I'm sorry." Anne slowly and stiffly took off the shawl, handed it back to Matthew, and moved away, up the stairs and to her room.

Once in her room, Anne proceeded to slowly and painfully undress, and briefly examined her hipbone, and saw the quickly blossoming bruise there. On her way home, she had walked into a mailbox when she hadn't been looking where she was going, and it had jolted her out of her reverie enough that she could feel the sharp pain all the way home._ Oh well, _she thought. _At least I had something to distract me from this other kind of pain._

Anne stiffly put on her nightgown, shivering all the while, and slowly crawled into her bed, after saying a sad good night to the Snow Queen. Once under the covers, Anne couldn't get comfortable. First, her hipbone, which jutted out anyway, was being pressed into a particularly hard spot on the mattress, and the pain of it almost made her cry out. She shifted, and found herself on her back, staring at the ceiling, and still shivering uncontrollably.

After a half hour of just laying there, fully awake, and with thoughts racing through her mind, Anne heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep when she heard her door creak open. Matthew's heavy footsteps were coming closer and closer, until they stopped and she heard him kneel down next to her bed.

He reached out a hand and stroked her hair away from her eyes. "We were so worried about you tonight, Anne-girl. When we didn't know where you were or what had happened to you, it was the worst moment of our lives. I know Marilla was acting very brusque with you, but she was worried too. And then, when we got home, and you weren't here, it was like I'd been punched in the gut." She heard Matthew give a shaky sigh, and continue in a tremulous voice. "The thing is, Anne, I don't know what we'd do if anything ever happened to you." Here, his voice lightened considerably, almost as if he had made a conscious effort to sound more upbeat. "So, don't go running off without telling us where you're going from now on, you hear?" He smoothed her hair back again, and leaned in and kissed her cheek before standing up slowly, and quietly making his way out the door.

Anne opened her eyes and felt tears coursing down her cheeks. How could she actually tell Matthew and Marilla what she'd done tonight without disappointing them unbearably, too! She closed her eyes, turned on her good side, and proceeded to cry herself to sleep.

When Anne awoke, it was like there was something on fire in her throat and lungs. She blearily opened her eyes and found that she couldn't stand the light. Her head was pounding, and she felt horrible. When she tried to move, she felt a sharp pain from her hip, and when she put her hand on her hipbone, she remembered the enormous bruise that she was sure to have today. Her tongue felt heavy, and her eyelids were drooping as she sat up and reached for her water cup. As she tried to swallow the mouthful of water, her throat screamed out in protest, and she swallowed with much difficulty. She felt unnecessarily cold, and when she put her cold, clammy hand up to her forehead, she felt like it was on fire.

She sat all the way up, and threw the covers off herself. As soon as her skin was exposed to the cold air, she shivered and painfully stood up to find her slippers and a dressing gown. When she had her furry slippers on her feet, and her dressing gown on over her nightgown, she felt a little warmer, but still felt cold and clammy. Anne made her way into the bathroom, and took a good look at herself in the mirror. She looked absolutely horrible! Her eyes were red from crying well into the night, her lips were chapped from her fever, her skin was deathly pale from her sickness, and she had a sunken look around her eyes that made her look very tired.

She groaned and tried to say, "Well, Anne. You've really done it now," and found that her vocal chords were screaming in protest, and that she could barely make a sound. Sighing dejectedly, she turned on the hot water that Matthew was sure to have heated for her this morning, and began washing herself. When she had finished, and she still felt no better, she thought she'd better head downstairs and see what Marilla had to say about this. She was sure to be mad and scold Anne for not thinking to dress better when she had gone out last night.

Anne slowly made her way down the stairs, each step jolting her hip painfully and her bruise hurting constantly. When she arrived in the kitchen, she found Matthew sitting at the table reading his newspaper, and Marilla busy making a kettle of hot tea, and some breakfast.

"Good morning," she whispered pathetically, and wanted to hit herself for her dramatic entrance.

"Oh, good morning, Anne. Did you sleep well?" Marilla asked without turning around. When she finally did turn around, she dropped the tea towel she had been holding, and hurried to Anne, crying, "Good Lord, child! What on earth happened to you?" She put her hand on Anne's forehead and declared, "You're burning up! I knew you should have taken that hot bath last night. And whatever possessed you to go out in only that thin dress last night, Anne? Oh, my, and look at her eyes…how red-rimmed they look! Matthew heat some more water so she can take a nice, scalding hot bath, and then I'll make her some chamomile tea, and perhaps some toast with jam. How does that sound Anne?" Marilla was bustling around and getting out the bread and the jam.

"Marilla, perhaps you shouldn't make her toast just yet. Just give her a tablespoon of honey to help soothe her throat, and perhaps some soup would do her more good. Toast is bound to scratch her throat up some more." Matthew called, on his way outside to get more water.

"Yes, yes, of course. How stupid of me! Of course you can't have toast! I'll make you some nice soup, Anne. Now, you just sit right here, and drink this tea before I make you some chamomile tea." She set a large cup in front of Anne, and then moved away to the storeroom to look for ingredients to put in the soup. "You'd think you'd have more sense, child, than to go wandering about outside when it's so cold."

Anne listened quietly as Marilla absentmindedly scolded her, and meekly sipped her tea. It burned all the way down. It even made her lungs burn, but she knew it would do her good, so she drank all of it while it was still burning hot. When Marilla turned around to tell her to drink some more of her tea, she was surprised to find the whole cup empty.

"Well. At least you seem to know what's good for you this morning, right Anne? Alright, I'll give you another half a cup of this kind of tea, but I'll still expect you to drink the entire kettle of the chamomile tea that I'm in the middle of making for you."

Anne nodded, and drank the rest of the tea that Marilla put in front of her. When Matthew came in ten minutes later and announced that her bathwater was ready, she slowly stood up, thanked Matthew, and said that she'd much rather bathe than eat at that moment. Marilla agreed that she should have her bath while the water was still hot, and encouraged her to take her time, but not to stay in the water once it had cooled.

Anne thanked them both, and made her way upstairs to the bathroom. She watched the hot water flow into the tub, and once it was full, she undressed and slowly sank into the water. _Ah, _she thought as she leaned back in the hot water. _This is much better than being cold all the time. I wonder what Gilbert's doing right at this moment. He's probably out somewhere, trying to forget about me._ This kind of thinking brought tears to her eyes, and she sank her head beneath the water to get rid of them.

She lay in the water for a good ten to fifteen minutes, after which she began to wash herself thoroughly. She started washing herself softly, but the more she scrubbed, the more she began to think that she could somehow cleanse herself of what she had done last night and all the disappointment and worry she had caused, so she began to scrub harder, and harder until her pale skin had turned into a glowing pink and was a little raw. Only when she scrubbed over her hipbone and dropped the washcloth in pain did she realize that it wasn't possible to cleanse her insides by washing her outside. She took a good look at the purple and black bruise on her hip and noticed that the distorted colors were spreading and that the bruise had gotten quite large. _This is what I feel like on the inside, _she thought sadly, and began to slowly wash her hair with the fragrant soap that Matthew had gotten her for Christmas last year.

When the water had started to cool, she got out of the water, dried herself off, and quickly dashed into her room to dress properly. She dressed in an old, wool dress that would definitely keep her warm, and then sat down at her desk, wondering what on earth she was supposed to do now. She didn't feel like going down to breakfast yet, but she also didn't want to just sit here doing nothing. Then her thoughts flashed back to Gilbert, and she knew what she had to do to make him listen to her.

Alrighty, that's the end of that chapter…this chapter was originally supposed to be the end, but I decided to add another chapter or so…it seriously won't be long now, but if I keep updating like I've been doing, it should be okay, don't you think? Perhaps I'll even get a chapter out a day for this week, and then I'll finally finish this story! Sorry to keep you waiting, but I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. It was mainly focused on Anne, and her confused feelings….alright, leave a review, and check back soon!

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	11. Chapter 11

Yes, yes, I know I said I would have more posted sooner, but I really couldn't get around to it. I was momentarily deserted by ideas or the will to write any more…but I'm back now, and I'll finish soon…so, enjoy!

Anne groaned and opened her eyes. She lifted her head and slowly began to massage her neck. She'd fallen asleep at her desk, in the middle of writing a letter to Gilbert. The reminder of what she'd been doing before fatigue had overtaken her made her snap her gaze down at the sheet of paper in front of her. She needed to find someone to deliver it into town today, or else she'd never work up the courage to actually give the letter to **him**.

Looking around her room, she realized that Marilla had probably come in and covered her with the heavy wool blanket that was now laying at her feet. Biting her lip nervously, she wondered if Marilla had read the letter. But…no! Marilla would never do something as un-Christian as reading someone else's mail without their permission. Anne slowly sat up, and walked to the water jug on her windowsill. After pouring herself a glass of water to moisten her burning throat, she decided to go downstairs and try to sneak the letter into Matthew's belongings. She knew he was going into town soon to mail his lab results to his doctor.

Anne quietly slipped out of her room after folding up her letter to Gilbert, and carefully putting in an envelope with his name and address on it. She swiftly slipped the envelope in between Matthew's lab results and a formal invitation from Marilla to the minister's wife for tea at Green Gables the following Saturday. That done, she headed to the kitchen to see if she could talk Marilla into making her some more herbal tea.

Gilbert paced his room, deep in thought. How could she have just disappointed them all like that? This wasn't like her! Anne Shirley was an infinitely dependable person!

Hearing the doorbell ring downstairs, he grabbed his wool coat and dashed down the stairs. He opened the door with gusto, briefly reminisced about a time not too long ago when he had shocked Anne with his enthusiastic greeting, and came face to face with Charlie Sloane. Charlie had invited Gilbert to go to a fair in White Sands today. Mr. Sloane would be driving the boys there in his buggy, and would pick them up as soon as his business in White Sands was completed. Gilbert greeted Charlie, called to his father that he was leaving, and shut the door behind him.

While riding in the buggy, with Charlie's goggle eyes staring at his profile as he jabbered away about the success of the play last night, and how he couldn't believe that Anne Shirley hadn't shown up, Gilbert began to really think about why Anne would have missed out on her grade, her friends, and the performance.

Matthew checked to make sure that the horse was harnessed properly, and that he hadn't forgotten to take anything with him. After making sure he had all of the money he would need for stamps, Matthew scooped up the letters that needed to be mailed, climbed into the buggy, and drove off into town.

He never noticed the single letter that had fallen out of his pile and into the snow, and how the wet snow was now distorting the carefully written name and address until it was no longer recognizable.

Anne sat at the table and drank the chamomile tea that Marilla had just heated for her. It scalded her throat and made her eyes water, but she drank it down anyway, knowing that it would eventually do her good. She saw Matthew's buggy pull away from the house, and thought, _Good. The letter will be sent soon, and then, Gilbert will at least know my side of the story._

Looking up at Marilla, Anne said, "Is there anything I can help you with, Marilla? I don't really have anything to do today, seeing as I can't go out, and I have no schoolwork to complete."

Marilla gave Anne a stern glance, and said, "You need to rest, young lady. You've done plenty to bring on that nasty virus, and now you'll just have to rest and do everything you can to make it go away. Now, off with you. You may go into the parlour and read, if your head isn't bothering you. If it is, then I'd prefer that you just sit and relax."

Anne watched Marilla turn briskly away and begin to stir the stew some more. She sighed heavily, and made her way upstairs to her room to get her book. She was currently reading a fabulous compilation of Shakespeare's best sonnets, and she was really starting to enjoy speaking in Shakespearian English. _If only these didn't remind me of **him**_, she thought miserably.

So, for the rest of the day, Anne sat in the parlour and read her sonnets, eventually dropping off into a peaceful, if somewhat brief, sleep.

It took a full three days before Anne could even overcome the inflammation of her vocal chords enough to speak again, and another three days after that before her fever broke. Finally, on the Monday nine days after the performances, Anne was finally able to return to school.

As she walked along her known path alone, she saw a figure up ahead whom she thought she recognized.

"Diana!" Anne called in a hoarse voice for, even though she had overcome the worst of her illness, she wasn't yet fully recovered.

The figure turned to Anne, and seemed to hesitate before turning and heading towards Anne.

"Oh, Diana! It's been torture being away from you for so long!" Anne cried, throwing her arms around her bosom friend's neck, and quickly noting how Diana seemed to stiffen up upon contact. She drew back.

"How are you Anne? Are you feeling much better?" Diana inquired politely, if a bit coldly.

Anne studied her friend, and realization dawned on her. "Oh, Diana! I'm so terribly, horribly sorry about the performance! I was desperate to talk to you, but Marilla would not let me out of the house, and I had no way of coming to see you under her watchful eye! It was horrible of me to not show up and to put you in that dreaded position of having to substitute being Juliet for me! But, everyone said you were marvelous, darling Diana! The minister and his wife came for tea at Green Gables the other day and they raved and said you were the most beautifully enchanting Juliet they had ever had the pleasure of seeing!" Anne looked imploringly at Diana. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but perhaps you could find it in your heart to – just this once – forgive your foolish and hot-headed bosom friend, I would be eternally in your debt, and I promise to do my darndest to never, **ever** let you down ever again!"

Diana studied Anne's sincere and hopeful face, and had to bite back her smile. "Anne, do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to fill in for you that night? I thought I would faint in front of the whole audience…or lose my lunch! I just don't know how you could have done that, and let down our whole group! And then, when I didn't hear from you immediately afterward, do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Why, I thought you had left town or changed schools or some such thing when you didn't even come to school all of last week!"

"I'm so sorry, my dear, darling Diana! I never meant to worry you, but I did try to come and see you. Several times. I just never made it past the Green Gables porch, where Marilla almost always caught me and forced me to go back into the house. I am truly, and sincerely, from-the-bottom-of-my-heart sorry!" Anne looked pleadingly at Diana. "Will you forgive me?"

Diana studied Anne for a moment, then threw her arms around her bosom friend's neck and hugged her close. "Oh, Anne! Of course I'll forgive you! How could I not after you apologized so eloquently? I was just angry that you hadn't tried to apologize before this, and if you had asked me to forgive you right after the performance, there was a very good chance that I would have said 'no', but I've had time to think things over, and I think that everyone is entitled to let others down at least once in their life and get a second chance. So, Anne-girl, consider this your second chance!"

Anne laughed and hugged Diana fiercely back. "Thank you from my very soul Diana!"

As the two walked to school together, once more the picture of best friends, Diana informed Anne about what she had missed during her week at home, and also informed her that some of their classmates would not be quite so forgiving. However, she assured Anne that they would win them all over in the end. And so, with a lighter heart, Anne was able to force the nervous feeling in her stomach down enough to enjoy walking to school with Diana in the crisp morning.

It became increasingly obvious, the closer they got to school and the more classmates they encountered, that not everyone would have such a forgiving disposition about performance night.

Josie Pye gave Anne such a nasty look that she thought Josie's face would be sure to freeze like that, while Moody, polite as always, informed her that she had let their group down grievously and so he would need some time before he would be able to talk to her as a friend again.

The worst blow, however, came when Anne spotted Gilbert across the field, walking into the schoolhouse. The nervous feeling surfaced ten-fold and she thought she would be sick right there in front of everyone. Had he gotten her letter? He should have as she had sent it more than a week ago. What did he think? Did he understand her side of the story? Would he eventually find it within himself to forgive her?

"Anne, come on! We're going to be late!" Diana pulled on Anne's arm and shook her out of her trance.

"Coming, Diana,' Anne muttered, and slowly dragged her feet towards the schoolhouse.

When the two of them entered and began to take off their outer clothes, a hush fell inside the school room, and Anne felt every single eye in the room on her back as she hung up her coat. Turning around, her eyes sought out the one person who she absolutely needed to forgive her. He was looking at her with cold eyes and an emotionless expression.

Her stomach dropped, her insides froze, and she thought, _He's given up on me! After all these years, Gilbert Blythe finally wants nothing more to do with me. _She could already feel her eyes tearing up.

Hey, hey, hey! It's summer vacation and I absolutely need to apologize to you guys for keeping you waiting for so long! I'm sorry, but I've been busy with vacations, and the like. So here is the next chapter, and I don't know when the next one will be out since I haven't written it yet, but I should be soon since I'm done with vacationing in foreign parts and I'm hanging around home for now…so review, review, review, and the next chapter will be up soon. Ciao, ciao!

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